Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Former NBA playerPau Gasol, who helped lead the Los Angeles Lakers to two consecutive titles in 2009 and 2010, announced his retirement from basketball on Tuesday after a two-decade career.
“I’m going to retire from professional basketball,” the 41-year-old from Spain said during a live-streamed press conference. “It’s a difficult decision after so many years, but it’s a decision that I really thought over.”
Gasol’s retirement doesn’t come as a surprise. In August, he announced he hadplayed his last international basketball gamefollowing Spain’s elimination from the Tokyo Olympics in the quarterfinals.
Gasol last appeared in an NBA game in 2019 after signing with the Milwaukee Bucks. His time with the team was short-lived after he sustained an ankle injury. He later joined thePortland Trailblazersbut did not appear in a game.
Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
Paired with NBA starKobe Bryant, the seven-footer made the team instant contenders for the NBA championship. Gasol helped to lead the Lakers to a Finals appearance that season, where they lost to the Boston Celtics.
The team would earn their revenge against the Celtics a year later after beating them in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals.
In his retirement speech, Gasol paid tribute to Bryant.
“I want to make a special mention to Kobe Bryant. I’d very much like him to be here but that’s life,” Gasol said of Bryant, who died in January 2020. “He taught me how to be a better leader, better competitor, what it meant to be a winner.”
On Tuesday, Lakers governor Jeanie Bussannounced the team would retire Gasol’s No. 16 jersey. She retweeted an image showing Gasol’s jersey hanging next to Bryant’s in the Staples Center rafters.
source: people.com
